Tiago Gouveia - Marketing Director at FC Porto - shared how FC Porto transitioned its operations to become more digital.

Need for digitalisation

The club’s rapid growth over the last three decades (in terms of championships, titles, facilities and infrastructure and most importantly the number of fans) has helped to build a strong brand which in turn has created a certain demand from fans for engaging online-content.

Ten years ago, the club realised that they did not have the right tools nor the right plan to offer the fans what they wanted in terms of engaging online content, so they developed a strategic plan to digitalise their traditional club.

Situation in 2009

Back in 2009 they only had the club website, the Dragões Magazine and SMS text messages as tools to communicate to the fans. As part of their digitalisation strategy they planned to broaden and diversify their offer so they could improve the fan experience by communicating to the fans whole day long on matchdays and even keep fans engaged on non-matchdays. It was important to make sure that their core values of competence, ambition, passion, innovation and rigor were kept central under this new digitalisation.

Part of Tiago’s presentation.

The club strongly believes that a strong strategy is more important than the actual technologies in their drive towards digital transformation. By 2019, the club had created a number of additional digital channels through which they can share engaging club-related content including:

Developing their online platforms and online reach has also helped the club gather data about themselves and their fans. They are planning to use this data in the near future to allow other technologies and communication tools to perform to their full potential.

What we can learn from his presentation:

A good strategic plan is more important than the actual technology

These days, a large club with a large fanbase also needs to have a large online presence to keep up with the demand of fans

Fan profiles (for example to log in to an app) can give you information which can help the club use other technologies (with personalised offers) to their full potential

Thomas Kirschner - Head of Fans & Tradition at Schalke 04 - explained which activities and projects the club has implemented to maintain a strong relationship with their fans. In total, Schalke 04 has over 160,000 members, 900 different fan clubs and an average stadium attendance of 61,197.

Schalke 04’s department of Fans & Services focuses on three main categories to connect with their fans:

Information: using different channels to inform fans and get in touch with them

Interaction: using the pre-season to create and maintain a strong relationship with fans

Involvement using the knowledge of your fan base and find common projects

Fan information

It is important to keep your fans up to date and share your latest updates with them. A brief overview of several projects which have been implemented at Schalke 04:

Members corner: the main goal is not to promote the club but to offer fans the possibility to ask questions and meet with other fans e.g. with ambassadors from different German regions

Away fans: also provide the visiting fans as much information as possible e.g. in the away section there are screens with information regarding attendance, previous matches, how to exit the stadium, feedback,..

“It is also important to offer fans of visiting clubs with accurate information and to create a pleasant environment for them to experience the match.”

An excellent example of pre-season interaction is the club’s efforts during their training camps. In summer over 1,500 fans travel together with the club to watch the training sessions, while in winter 300 to 400 fans join.

“It is part of the tradition of the club to make time for their fans, also during training camps.”

Fan involvement

The club created an annual conference to discuss and share ideas with fans. The main topic of last year’s edition focused on welcoming fans in the stadium including disabled fans and visiting supporters. Different stakeholders were involvement in the conference including Schalke 04, supporters (from different fan clubs and disabled fans but excluding ultras) and police. As an outcome of the conference, several projects have been implemented e.g. an F&B truck for away fans outside the stadium, implementation of a working group regarding parking solutions and a video for disabled fans on how to access the stadium. Overall, it is important for Schalke 04 to create a dialogue with their fans.

What we can learn from Thomas Kirschner's presentation:

Inform your fans not only via social media channels but for example also via WhatsApp

Don’t forget to interact and inform with visiting fans and offer them a similar experience your fans expect during away matches

Constantly involve your fans and keep them updated for example during away matches and on training camps

Make sure you listen to your fans and provide them with opportunities to discuss certain topics

Estádio do Dragão was built to be a five-star UEFA stadium, with a focus on sustainable operations. Several of those measures had been taken during the construction phase of the project. The ‘open to the city’ concept created two advantages. People can see the inside of the stadium from the outside, which attracts more visitors on non-matchdays. Secondly, the concept ensures that natural light and ventilation can easily enter the stadium. As a result, the club saves on optimising the quality of the pitch. Furthermore, in-house waste depots were installed close to the bars in order to reduce transport.

Energy consumption, water consumption and waste management

By developing a well thought-out sustainability policy, Estádio do Dragão became the first five-star UEFA stadium to be awarded a quality and environmental certification. FC Porto’s sustainability policy is built around three pillars:

Energy consumption

Water consumption

Waste management

A sustainability approach requires a change in the mindset of the whole organisation, which is an enormous challenge. In a first phase they focus on the daily operations including security, cleaning and maintaining services to adopt and carry out FC Porto’s sustainability approach.

Sustainability campaigns

FC Porto implemented several initiatives towards its fans to get them involved in the club’s sustainability mindset. For example, bringing your own food and drinks into the stadium is not allowed and in the past fans had to throw it away. Nowadays, fans can dispose their food and drinks in dedicated boxes. All sealed products are then offered to institutions who help the less fortunate. Another initiative is the Zero Hunger Campaign. Together with the first team players, they were able to raise over 7,000 food products. Another campaign was launched after the enormous forest fires, which hit the region around Porto. Under the motto ‘Our flame will bring life back to the forest’, FC Porto promoted the reforestation through a Christmas message. Magnets with the logo of Estádio do Dragão were offered to the supporters and the club planted a tree for every magnet sold. Furthermore, in order to raise awareness of efficient water use among all FC Porto employees, an alert message appeared on their computer screen.

Main takeaways:

Incorporate sustainability from the beginning of your stadium project and implement it in your daily operations

Multidisciplinary team: make sure everyone within the club is involved

Influence your fans: through good practices and adopting sustainable attitude, a club can influence its fans positively and together contribute to a better world together

Neil Sharman - Security Manager at Wembley Stadium - shared the stadium’s counter-terrorism measures both on event day and non-event day during the ESSMA Summit in Porto.

Safety measures on non-event day

There are 50 permanent security staff on-site and the control room is monitored 24/7 on non-event days. Furthermore, there are safety measures in place such as a 100% bag search of all people including staff, each vehicle delivery must be booked in advance and all visitors must be logged in advance and require an ID during their visit.

“We firmly believe that our 24/7 counter-terrorism operation and security culture is the foundation for a safe event day.”

Via a formal documented process, Wembley prepares itself on event days via a phased introduction of enhanced measures. Key part of this process is the briefing message and the consistent use of key staff.

Daniel Uthmann - Marketing Project Manager at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim - shared how the club is using data to enhance the matchday experience.

Matchday stadium show

Daniel and his team prepare the stadium show which varies each matchday. In general, the show starts 40 minutes before kick-off and consists of:

Highlights of previous matches

Information of upcoming matches

Statistics including goals, distance,..

Interviews, club news, ticketing information,..

“In order to ensure the best stadium experience we need to know what our fans like, want and expect.”

Survey stadium experience

To get a better understanding of their fans and their expectations, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim conducted a survey, which consisted of three main topics:

Arrival on matchday: when do you arrive, what do you before the game, what is missing, would you arrive earlier if…

Inside the stadium: when do you enter the stadium, would you arrive earlier if.., how would you rate,...

Post-match: would you stay longer in the stadium if you could watch highlights of other matches, if the F&B kiosks would stay open longer, how much money do you spend,...

Location based services

Based on the survey results, the club decided to implement a location based service with iBeacons. In total, they installed 700 iBeacons. There are around 140 points of interest which fans can access via the club app. Furthermore, the technology is part of the club’s app and fans can filter on navigation through the stadium, location of the nearest toilets, fan shop promotions and so on.

“With the location based push notifications we can target specific points of interest and interact on a more personalised level with our fans.”

In addition, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim is planning to implement several other features to enhance the fan experience including a function to memorise the location of your car so you can easily find it back after the match, the possibility to vote during the stadium show and special merchandising options when fans pass by the fan shop.

Main takeaways:

Offer your fans a unique stadium show which varies each match

By conducting a survey, you can learn more about the expectations and needs of your fans

Divide your fan experience offering in pre-, during and post-match

With the iBeacon technology, you can send your fans location based push notifications

Define many different points of interest within your stadium so there is something interesting for each fan

ESSMA interviewed Thomas Otton - Communications Director at Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) - on how LNR managed to attract a new audience to rugby by hosting a global show after the TOP 14 final.

What is the main challenge of hosting the TOP 14 final?

The main challenge is to seduce the audience, as it is a different target group compared to during the regular season or the semi-finals, which is a more fan-oriented event in one city during 48 hours.

“LNR was able to target a younger and more feminine audience by selecting a counterintuitive artist.”

What were the objectives of organising a global show?

In 2018, we organised a large show with Mika in Stade de France after the final between Montpellier Hérault Rugby and Castres Olympique. First of all, we wanted to enhance the fan experience. Secondly, we wanted to reach a new audience - especially a more feminine audience - and this is why we reached out to Mika. He has a great feminine audience and a younger audience as well, which is a key target for us. So the idea was to use Mika, not only as an artist for the final, but also as a medium and as an influencer towards his proper community.

What are the plans for the 2019 edition?

We chose one of the most famous French groups called Bigflo et Oli for next year. They are young and have a great fan base with over five million fans. The idea is to choose them very early in the year, we sign them in December, so we can really work with them on how they could help rugby and the TOP 14 to be discovered by their community. They are going to attend a training session at Stade Toulousain and some matches during the regular season, so that they can introduce rugby to their own communities.

Krzysztof Szumowski - Matchday Director and Venue Manager at Legia Warsaw - explained the process Legia Warsaw went through to implement a new venue management system to help them improve matchday organisation during the ESSMA Summit in Porto.

Project goals and timeline

In 2018, Legia Warsaw decided to implement a new venue management system which would allow them to organise events more efficiently and improve the overall matchday experience. The main goals they set out at the start of this project were:

To gather more information from their fanbase

To optimize communication

To create documentation as guidelines for matchday operations

To create an efficient system which would help them eliminate mistakes

Implement changes in the organisation

Improve the organisation and overall matchday experience

The first step the club took was to organise meetings with team leaders of all departments to determine their degree of involvement in matchday operations. This was followed up by a thorough analysis of the venue and the normal way of preparing for matchdays. A new venue management system, with detailed planning for matchday operations, was created based on the input received during the analysis.

Part of Krzysztof's presentation.

Operational tools

The implementation of the new venue management system was accompanied by the introduction of some operational tools, which should also help make the organisation of events more efficient.

Pre-matchday briefings were introduced and now take place one or two days before every match, while post-matchday debriefings take place two or three days after every match. The club also introduced:

A matchday countdown schedule: Information of all matchday activities and information gathered from team leaders.

A venue manager checklist: information related to the specific matchday. Like the anticipated attendance, the number of staff involved and the weather forecast.

A matchday operational plan: summary of the entire matchday operation with a detailed description of all operational areas and the tasks and responsibilities of all team leaders.

Tasks and responsibilities of a venue manager

The tasks and responsibilities of a venue manager, in Legia Warsaw’s new venue management system:

On matchday

On non-matchday

Monitoring the operations and organization and keeping them on schedule

Collecting information about match operations

Facilitating communication between team leaders and Safety & Security Officers

ESSMA interviewed William Mannarelli - Director of Real Estate at FC Barcelona - about the Espai Barça project. The Espai Barça project is a large-scale infrastructure redevelopment project to improve (and expand) all FC Barcelona’s infrastructure including their training facilities, Camp Nou Stadium, Palau Blaugrana, the club’s offices as well as the commercial and leisure facilities.

What will the renovated facilities offer in terms of fan experience for Barça fans?

FC Barcelona has a long-standing tradition of providing the ultimate experience in terms of live sports events. The Espai Barça project is following that tradition as it links to the future Camp Nou. As a result, FC Barcelona aims to intensify the atmosphere inside the stadium and allow the players and fans to be closer to each other. That is in fact why people come to the stadium instead of watching the match on television. Palau Blaugrana has a tradition of being loud and having the spectators almost on top of the players. The new Palau Blaugrana is also very tight and compact. Preserving the continuity of the tradition of enhancing the fan engagement is key in all of our new venues.

What are the next steps in the Espai Barça project?

Estadi Johan Cruyff is finishing its construction work. We are hopeful that the building will be open and operational by May 2019. This summer, we are going to start moving roads and public utilities to make room for the enlargement of Camp Nou. In addition, we are doing renovation work in the future Camp Nou. We hope to apply for licenses for the stadium and for the arena, and then we can start with the construction.

“FC Barcelona aims to intensify the atmosphere inside the stadium and allow the players and spectators to come closer together. Preserving the continuity of the tradition of enhancing the fan engagement is key in all of our new venues.”

What will be the impact on the club and on the local community?

There is a tremendous amount to be won for the club, the community and the city. At the moment, we are strategically aligned to develop this project. It took a long time to get everybody sort of aligned, but the political will at this particular point is overwhelming and the long term effect is that FC Barcelona will have modern infrastructure for its fans locally, but also from around the world. In addition, we will also be able to give a public space back to the city of Barcelona that it currently does not have. That should be a tremendous benefit on non-matchdays for the surrounding residents.

Míde highlighted the importance of sustainability and why it is important to create more awareness and act upon it within the stadium industry:

Weave sustainability into a stadium’s identity.

You cannot successfully put a sustainability policy into practice on your own; you need partners. Moreover, you encourage your current partners to step up their game.

To put some external pressure on yourself by talking about your accomplishments and ambitions regarding sustainability.

Sustainability at Croke Park

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) – which has its headquarters at Croke Park – is a grassroots, largely volunteer-driven association. That entails both advantages as disadvantages. The financial responsibility to be profitable is different. The association reinvest a large proportion of their profit into the grassroots rather than flagship initiatives. However, being the stadium of a grassroots association has its benefits too. The stadium operates as a physical symbol of the association that projects GAA’s important values such as volunteerism, community and engagement.

Sustainability makes financially sense, however, a considerable number of sustainability projects require a significant capital investment. As people are present-biased and want to see results fast rather than on the long-term. Therefore, it is essential to reconcile long-term economic forecasts and immediate rewards.

Part of Míde Ní Shúilleabháin's presentation.

Storytelling by capturing the imagination

A lovely message can be linked to the zero waste landfill policy at Croke Park. Not everyone sincerely cares about throwing away their waste in the right bin. Nevertheless, a circular story where you engage people and where you can show them tangible results of the recycling process will increase the willingness of the staff to recycle their food waste correctly.

As Croke Park is located near Ireland’s coast line, neighbours encountered some problems with seagulls who drop leftovers into those local residents’ garden. They solved the issue by letting Harris’s hawks fly over the stadium. Another story including birds concerns the swift. This species doesn’t have places to nest anymore, so Croke Park installed breeding grounds into the brickwork of the handball centre. Those efforts won’t change the world, yet such striking messages can act as helpful instrument to raise awareness about sustainability. People simply like stories that capture the imagination, and Croke Park does it by acting differently.

“Stadiums capture the imagination and that is why we all love them. Physically, they shape our landscapes and emotionally, they represent the home base of supporters. Connecting sustainability to your stadium’s identity will ensure that it becomes part of all departments.”

Mutual responsibility

Even small interventions can make a difference. Croke Park now only offers coffee in compostable cups. In addition, Croke Park introduced the paperless meetings. In the beginning, the conference centre department took a wait-and-see approach. After receiving positive feedback of several technological partners, the conference centre even started to claim ownership. In that way, sustainability is no longer the responsibility of a single department, but everybody feels part of it. Talking about it, brings people closer together. Therefore it is important to mainstream sustainability messages.

Main takeaways:

Know why you want to be sustainable. What is your main motivation? Financial gains or a moral imperative?

Establish a central body like a sustainability team, but spread the message throughout the entire organisation

Set up a sustainability policy as a stadium and partners will come to you with ideas

Nothing is a waste of time. Some meetings with partners will look like a waste of time, but there are always lessons to be learnt

Christophe Segers - Finance & Operations Director at Royal Antwerp FC - talked about the importance of data gathering, data analysis to support the club’s growth and how to optimise revenue streams and decrease expenses during the ESSMA Summit in Porto.

2017/18 season

The process of gathering and analysing data started in the 2017/18 season. The situation at the time:

RAFC had just gained promotion

An operational budget of €8 million

11 FTE’s as part of the operational staff

A lack of organisational structures and transparency

On average 12,000 fans per match

They realised that they would have to professionalise their internal processes to support the club’s natural growth after the promotion.

Data analysis model

They implemented a new data analysis model which gathers information to calculate the club’s expenses and revenues. It is divided in: ticketing, F&B, merchandising, catering and B2B. This model links all data sources in one easy-to-read platform, which allows club executives to get a clear overview of revenues and expenses and make quick decisions to optimise both.

Online reach

In addition, Royal Antwerp FC focused on expanding its online presence. The introduction of the MyRAFC account - which centralises different aspects of the fan experience and makes them more accessible for fans - was supported by online media campaigns and short videos showing behind the scenes-footage. The club has worked to create varied and engaging content for different target audiences. As a result their online fan base has grown significantly.

Part of Christophe's presentation.

In the 2017-18 season RAFC received a total of 11 million views and grew to become the second largest club in Belgium in terms of online reach with 307.000 followers.

Main takeaways:

Use a data analysis tool to gather data and optimise your expenses and revenue

A growing club has to be supported with the proper tools and infrastructure

Centralise different aspects of the fan experience so they are easily accessible for fans

Grow your online presence with varied and engaging content

Divide your fanbase in target audiences so you can offer them more personalised content